A school term gives additional pressure and competition to all families and communities. Decisions, stress, conflict, compliance, individuality, fashion, peer pressure, uniformity, etc. They are all there in abundance.
A new term should be like spring. A fresh opportunity to start anew, keep to your intentions and meet your goals.
Product launches have many similarities to this. There are common features that need to be in place: targets, budgets, planning, forecasting, staffing and ensuring that the product is delivered in the correct format and to the right market. Are there any real differences between the start of a new academic year and the launch of packaged product? In both cases, success beckons for those who get it right.
It is often said that a brand is a product with added communication but function is also an unmistakable requirement for success. The consumer is looking for the right balance of cost and quality. The brand owner must innovate, review the packaging and improve it where appropriate. Without feedback and analysis there will be no future sale and no product.
Today's competition is strong, so much so that getting it wrong, whether it's the packaging, merchandising, price or performance, will rapidly lead to loss of market share and a poor reputation.
Packaging the ideas, concepts and beliefs, giving added value and differentiating from the competition are all prerequisites. Most of the packaged products on the shelf perform but it is the one that offers that extra dimension that gets the next purchase. If it meets a need, is reliable, consistent, practical and imaginative in its design or functionality it will succeed.
We are all after value for money in what we do or buy: two for one, three for two and link-save promotions that tempt you into getting a great deal. The abundance of choice and competition puts the consumer in a unique and favourable position.
Therefore, as you fight your way through the traffic on increasingly gloomy autumn mornings, pause and reflect on the similarities with the school year and the potential successes for those who get it right. But please drive carefully!
